M.Video-Eldorado research: as much as 80% of the Russian market in 2020 was represented by PlayStation games

M.Video-Eldorado Group (MOEX: MVID), Russia's largest consumer electronics retailer and part of SAFMAR Group owned by Mikhail Gutseriev, reflects on sales of console game discs in 2020. The Russian market sold more than 1.8 million copies, taking over RUB 4.4 billion in revenue. Over 80% of games purchased were meant to be playable on PlayStation. The best-selling games were The Last of Us Part II among PS4 exclusives and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales among PS5 releases. M.Video-Eldorado Group accounts for over 60% of retail sales of console games.

Cyberpunk 2077  topped sales in Q4 in just under one month, making it to the Top 5 best-selling PS4 releases in 2020

PS4 games continue to dominate the Russian market. The Last of Us Part II exclusive topped sales in FY2020, with FIFA 20 football simulator coming second, Grand Theft Auto V action-adventure in the third place, Minecraft in the fourth place, and Cyberpunk 2077 rising to the fifth place in just under one month.

CD Projekt RED’s new game started successfully and topped sales in Q4. The Top 5 best-selling games in October through December included FIFA 21, The Last of Us Part II, Grand Theft Auto V, and Minecraft.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the most popular PS5 game in 2020

Since mid-November 2020, PS5 games have been selling in Russia, with about 10 titles now available for owners of the next-gen consoles. In Russia, the most popular games in November through December included Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (standard and ultimate editions), Demon’s Souls, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate Edition.

The Top 5 best-selling Nintendo Switch games in 2020 included four exclusive titles

In 2020, Nintendo Switch came second in terms of copies sold. Animal Crossing: New Horizons life simulator was the most popular release in both Q4 and FY2020, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild coming second, Super Mario Odyssey in the third place, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (the only non-exclusive title on the leaderboard) in the fourth place, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake hitting the bottom of the list.

Apart from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the most popular Nintendo Switch games in October through December included The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Ring Fit Adventure, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

FIFA football simulator retained its leadership among Xbox One games in 2020

FIFA 20 (FIFA 19 in 2019) football simulator from Electronic Arts remained the most popular game among owners of Xbox One consoles, with Grand Theft Auto V coming second, Red Dead Redemption 2 in the third place, UFC 3 mixed martial arts fighting simulator in the fourth place, and Cyberpunk 2077 in the fifth place (as with PlayStation 4).

In Q4, the most popular titles in Russia included Cyberpunk 2077, FIFA 21, Grand Theft Auto V, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Sergey Sukhorukov, Head of Entertainment and Gadgets at M.Video-Eldorado:

"Video games on physical media remain in high demand among Russian gamers. During the pandemic in 2020, this segment became increasingly topical as we were spending more time at home. Landmark releases also played a role. For instance, The Last of Us Part II emerged as an all-time leader in the entire history of titles released on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in our chains immediately after it was launched. In the first four days, the much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 saw the highest demand in the entire history of M.Video and Eldorado (PC and console copies combined). The release of next-gen consoles was another landmark of the last year’s gaming industry, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S enjoying soaring demand since the start of sales. After several pre-order waves, we launched public sales of consoles and it took us a few minutes to sell off all the available stock"

The pandemic and the release of new titles contributed to a double-digit growth in console sales

In January through December 2020, a total of 760 thousand gaming consoles worth more than RUB 14.7 billion were sold in Russia, delivering a year-on-year growth of 13% and 20% in volume and value terms, respectively. Every second console from the leading manufacturers was bought from either M.Video or Eldorado.  The demand peaked in late March through May 2020 when consoles were the preferred choice for home entertainment during the lockdown and in mid-November through December when next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles were launched.

Sony topped the list of the most favoured manufacturers in Russia with a share of about 45%, with Microsoft (11%) coming second, and Nintendo (9%) in the third place. Cheap 8 and 16 bit retro consoles accounted for about 35% of the market in volume terms. The Top 5 best-selling consoles in Russia included PlayStation 4 Slim, PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation 5 (with or without an optical disc drive), Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One S. Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S ranked in the Top 10.